michael Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 there was mention of this at the user group, but I guess we all forgot to mention it... amazon link not much info right now - it was said that the book would be released in early November. author is: Will Cunningham Santa Monica College AET Department Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exel Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Right, what he said. I ordered this book right on the spot at SIGGRAPH, through Thomson Course Technology. Cost me about $40-something US, but they gave me a neat little pen that lights up so it's totally worth it. Here's all the details wot's printed on the card at SIGGRAPH: The Magic Of Houdini Will Cunningham Get ready to conquer the skills and techniques that will allow you to experience the magic of Houdini! With this book, you will be able to apply all of Houdini?s features to your projects, including modeling, character animation, particle effects animation, dynamic stimulation animation, shading, simple shader creation, lighting, rendering, and compositing. The Magic of Houdini is full of exercises, tips, illustrations, and end-of-chapter quizzes to help you easily master each new skill. Written by an experienced 3D animator and teacher, it provides an approachable and accurate introduction to Houdini. $60 US Chapter 1 - Introduction Chapter 2 - 3D Concepts Reviewed Chapter 3 - Interface Chapter 4 - Object Operations (OBJs) Chapter 5 - Surface Operations (SOPs) Chapter 6 - Simple Character Setup Chapter 7 - Digital Assets Chapter 8 - Animation Chapter 9 - Particle Operations (POPs) Chapter 10 - Channel Operations (CHOPs) Chapter 11 - Dynamic Operations (DOPs) Chapter 12 - Shader Operations (SHOPs) Chapter 13 - Lights and Cameras Chapter 14 - Render Outputs (ROPs) Chapter 15 - Compositing Operations (COPs) Chapter 16 - VEX Operations (VOPs) Chapter 17 - Variables And Expressions Chapter 18 - Why The Hell Did I Just Type All That Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malexander Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Good to know that Will is writing it... I got a little worried when I looked at the Amazon description, which states the book ships on Nov 5th and 'no author has currently been signed for this book'. Seemed a tad ambitious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted August 9, 2005 Author Share Posted August 9, 2005 well we'll have to see what happens - exel ordered it but got an invoice with nothing on it - just his info and that he had given someone some money...LOL...I'm sure it will all be fine there are some (early) samples of the book here: http://homepage.smc.edu/cunningham_will/do...ads/default.htm I guess he is using the book in his classes...seems pretty good from what I've read there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 halo friends, this is will. yes, there is a book scheduled to come out Nov. 22 of this year. though, there is much work yet to be done! a little bit o info: i've been teaching the intro to houdini class at AET for a couple o years now and have slowly, very slowly, been building a good class based on original material. each semester has afforded the opportunity to add and retool the lessons to more directly and clearly answer the questions that i hear again and again. at some point a while back i realized that all these class lessons were a great beginning to a book and so it came to be... well, with a little more toil, to be sure. basically, this book is almost everything i would want to know if i had to start over and learn houdini from scratch. the scope is intro on into solidly intermediate material. the tone is as silly and mystical as possible while at the same time clearly relating useful information. i just don't think i would have had the gumption to write a dry read. if you think that stuff is boring to read, let me tell you it must be even more boring to write! several great folk are contributing material including peter bowmar, jason iverson, and dave johnson. jeff wagner is graciously doing the technical editing. thanks to all 4 of these kind people for adding to the quality of the project immensely. i won't get too touchy feely just now in thanking peter bowmar in particular as i expect i can do that on that first page that most everyone studiously ignores. but, it will be there peter! on a more somber note, the TOC as listed on the promotional card at siggraph is, unfortunately, not entirely accurate. that was the TOC that i submitted to various publishers at the beginning of this whole process and was my dream of every single thing i wanted to include. since then, reality intruded upon the dream and forced a culling of a few topics... -simple character setup isn't its own chapter -CHOPs chapter is cut. they are briefly covered in other lessons. -COPs is also cut except for brief discussions as part of other lessons. -variables and lessons chapter is cut, but is worked in throughout the book -chapter 18, i'll have to check that one. hehe. so, hopefully it will be a great first book for this fantastic package. we'll all find out soon! i guess i mentally misplaced my username. willc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted September 17, 2005 Author Share Posted September 17, 2005 Hi Will! thanks for the update...looking forward to seeing it in print. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altbighead Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 I just want to say that those samples are awesome.I have learned alot from it and I can't wait to buy this book. Thanks for writing houdini book . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted October 22, 2005 Share Posted October 22, 2005 thanks a.b.h. as i said o'r on the sidefx forum. those docs contain some helpful information, but they are very incomplete and even have a few errors. i haven't updated them in a long time because the material has been updated and corrected in the draft for the book. once it is released, the docs will be the far poorer version of the two and so will be taken down. salud, will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.